The Darlings Are
by LanerMahaner
Summary: TWO-SHOT; Wendy is eighteen when she gives birth to her and Peter's daughter Jane. Wendy is thirty-four when Jane gets sick and she is thirty-five when she leaves Jane in Neverland with Peter. Wendy is thirty-eight when she disappears to Neverland forever. Jane is barely a day old when Peter holds her for the first time. Jane is fifteen when she steals Felix's heart.
1. Wendy Is

Wendy is thirteen the first time Peter's shadow comes to her window to take her away to Neverland. Peter sends her back that first night; he only wants boys. But Peter has grown attached to his Wendybird. He starts coming to her window every night, then every week, every two weeks, every moth and eventually once a year as she begins to outgrow the island.

Wendy is seventeen the last time she goes to Neverland. It's the first time Peter and Wendy are intimate. Peter sends her home directly after, horrified that he has done something so adult. When Wendy finds out she's pregnant Peter stops coming to her window altogether. There are hushed conversations held behind closed doors in Wendy's house, whispers of a demon-boy named Peter Pan.

Wendy is seventeen and barely three weeks pregnant when she marries Edward, the son of one of her father's business associates. The wedding is rushed, organized by her parents. People begin to gossip; Wendy announces her pregnancy a week after the wedding and people talk even more.

Wendy is eighteen when she gives birth to her daughter Jane. Jane is tiny and wrinkled with blue eyes and a fluff of blonde hair. Peter doesn't show. Wendy thinks she's seen the last of the forever-boy. She doesn't know Peter now comes to her daughter's window every night, doesn't know that he holds Jane in his arms and watches her sleep.

Wendy is twenty when she goes in to Jane's room one night and finds her missing. Wendy rushes to the window, crying out as she clutches at her heart. She calls the shadow for the first time in so many years and it comes for her; it will always come when she calls. She arrives in Neverland like the queen she still is, the island bowing around her. Jane is bouncing on Peter's lap as the Lost Boy's dance around the fire. Wendy takes her daughter with fiery fury and Peter lets her return home with one last warning, "She's mine too."

Wendy is twenty-five when Jane first hears her mom and uncles talking in quiet voices about the boy king. They speak in secret about Jane's true father, having kept the information from both Jane and Edward for eight years. But Jane knows, has always known about Peter. He's come to her window every night for years; she's the princess of Neverland and he it's king.

Wendy is thirty-two when she finds out about Jane's trips to the island. There is yelling and harsh words and Jane runs to the window. Wendy cries as she watches Jane fly off into the night; she doesn't know if she'll ever see her daughter again. But Peter sends Jane back. He'd given Wendy a warning but also a promise; Jane would always come home to Wendy.

Wendy is thirty-three when Jane decides she's going to win the heart of the boy with feathers in his hair. She's been spending every night in Neverland for years, but her father is calling on her less and less. Like her mother before her, Jane is outgrowing her home. Jane realizes she must make her play while she still has time.

Wendy is thirty-four when Jane gets sick. The doctors' say it's terminal. Wendy calls on Peter for the last time, her dying daughter in her arms. Wendy begs Peter to save her; understands that to save one life you must take another. She offers hers and Peter declines. It's been seventeen years but Wendy finally realizes that Peter loves her.

Wendy is thirty-five when she leaves her daughter in Neverland for good, telling everyone in London that Jane has died. Jane is safe on the island where she'll never grow old and die; Peter vows to protect her. The ceremony in London is closed casket; Wendy says she can't bear to look at her dead baby and Edward doesn't argue. Wendy's parents and brothers know the truth.

Wendy is thirty-eight when she disappears for good. The shadow takes her away to Neverland to stay forever. Peter turns back the clock and they are a finally a family. Peter. Felix joins their family in the years to come and their forever life is complete. Wendy never ages again.


	2. Jane Is

Jane is barely a day old when Peter first comes to her window. He stands by her crib, watching her in the moonlight. He reaches in with unsure hands, holding her close to his chest as she sleeps. He marvels at how small she is, at the fact that he could create something so pure, so good. He is not good, he knows this. But Jane is, and in the light from the moon Peter vows to protect this innocent little creature that he helped create.

Jane is two the first time she can remember going to Neverland. She has an idea that she's been there before; explored the island on Peter's shoulders. It's the first night that Wendy finds her missing from her room. Jane watches as her mother alights in Neverland, the island welcoming her like a long gone queen and Jane realizes that that's what her mother is; a queen. Jane realizes, at two years old, that her mother is an unruly, wild queen and her father, a boy-man, a child king with a Cheshire grin. Jane goes home with her mother that night, but not without her father's warning and a promise.

Jane is seven when she hears her mother and uncles talking in hushed tones about a boy-king named Peter Pan. They think she doesn't know, that Peter hasn't come for her since that night that Wendy went to the island to retrieve her. But Jane knows Edward isn't her father; she knows because Peter still visits her, still flies to her window at night or sends his shadow for her. Jane knows her parents belong to Neverland.

Jane is ten and realizes that she has become a wild child, a princess of the forgotten island. She comes to know that she will never fit in London, never belong with the children of that world. She is a Lost Girl through and through. She knows her mother feels the same but tries to fight it. Wendy will always be a Lost Girl as well, a queen; she tries to fit in with her contemporaries but Neverland will always be in her bones. Neverland is beginning to sink in to Jane's bones as well.

Jane is fourteen when Wendy finds out about Jane's nightly trips to Neverland. Wendy yells and Jane cries, running to the window. The shadow comes without Jane needing to call and Jane runs away to Neverland, much as her mother had done so long ago. Jane spends the night with Peter and the Lost Boys before Peter returns her to Wendy. He had promised many years before.

Jane is fifteen. She loves Felix, the boy with feathers in his hair. Jane is determined to win his heart and soon. Peter is calling on her less and less as she grows older and she's not sure how much longer she has on the island. She earns Felix's favor, slipping away from camp with the older boy to spend a few minutes alone, kisses shared in the shadows. Jane returns home with heated cheeks and the promise that Felix will continue to send the shadow for her long after Peter has moved on.

Jane is sixteen when she gets sick, deathly ill; the doctors give her a year at best. Wendy cries, John and Michael frown and George and Mary pray. Jane sits at her window night after night, staring at the stars; she doesn't call out for Peter. One night Wendy comes to her, takes her in her arms and cries out for the shadow. Jane watches as Wendy begs Peter to save her life and feels little when Peter says he won't trade one life for another. Felix hold Jane as she sits quietly in her own pain.

Jane is seventeen, the same age as Wendy when she'd stopped going to Neverland. Wendy sends Jane off to the island with a final kiss and whispered goodbyes; Wendy has found a way to save her only child, by sending her away forever. Felix welcomes Jane with open arms and Peter kisses her on the forehead. Peter had thought Jane outgrew the island but secretly is glad that she has come to stay forever.

Jane would be twenty when Wendy shows up in Neverland, but she has stopped aging years ago. She isn't sick anymore but a wild princess of the island. Wendy can no longer bear to be away from her child and came to stay. Peter, with all the magic he possesses, turns back the clock and Wendy is a teenager again. It doesn't bother Jane that her parents are barely a year or two older than her; they are a family. And some day she knows that Felix will join their small unit.


End file.
